Revisiting the entire saga in order before TROS

I've not done a rewatch in a while (watched individual films but not the entire saga). Just a note: George Lucas once said, during the PT ears, that the PT is about the fall of Anakin Skywalker and the OT is the redemption of him. You could also say the PT is the fall of the Jedi and the end of the Republic. The OT then is the struggle for the Jedi to return and the attempt to restore the Republic.

So what happened in the following 3 decades? It seems that the Jedi haven't REALLY returned. The Republic was restored, but it doesn't look all that successful. Anyway, just a few thoughts.

 

Great thread topic as I always enjoy hearing fans take on the Saga. I think the ST is all about winning the hearts and minds of the galaxy and that may have gotten lost after their victory in ROTJ. What Luke did in ROTJ is something incredible, but that is from the viewers perspective (the fans). I don't know if he went around and televised that Darth Vader was his father, Leia was his sister, and he redeemed him through killing the Emperor. Remember, only 3 people saw that go down, and 2 of them were dead.

What Luke did on Crait was different, even if it wasn't as heroic as what he did in ROTJ. People saw what happened, and word spread (hence the ending). So now he was a legend with a story behind it, instead of just a legend with a mythical story. Those kids looked up to his actions on Crait and were inspired, the same way I was inspired by certain athletes as a kid that drove me to play those sports. I believe the ending of Episode 9 (while it will resemble the ending of ROTJ), is more about winning over the galaxy this time. The Rebels won the battle in Episode 6, now it's time for the Resistance to win the War in Episode 9.

 

The episodic Star Wars films are a cycle, something that I firmly believe The Rise of Skywalker is going to demonstrate like never before.

The emphasis on the mythological motifs and cyclical nature of the story hasn't been as consistently pronounced throughout the entirety of the Saga as I would have personally preferred it to be, but that doesn't change the overall cyclical nature of it.

 

You can look at these movies from so many angles, depending on which character you identify with, and depending on if you just want to look at the good vs evil on the surface, or go deeper. Star Wars is what you make of it, and that story changes over time as we get older and of course as new movies are added.

Looking at it right now, I’d say the prequels are the mistakes of our youth, the originals are how we confront those mistakes, and the sequels are about what we leave for those who follow us.

Ask me again tomorrow and I might say something different, but that is the beauty of Star Wars. A large part of it takes place inside of us and we make the story our own.